Hi Diehards:David Swensen, chief investment officer of Yale University, averaged 16.1% returns for 20 years. In "Unconventional Success" he offers incontrovertible evidence how the for-profit mutual fund industry consistently fails the average investor. Here are a few of the many tips for individual investors:

"Without a rock-solid belief in the fundamental principles that undergird an intelligently crafted portfolio, weak-kneed investors face the likelihood of a disastrous whipsaw."

"Poor asset allocation, ill-considered active management, and perverse market timing lead the list of errors made by individual investors."

"Asset-allocation decisions play a central role in determining investor results."

"The transactions cost advantage enjoyed by index funds joins a long list of reasons to prefer the rock-solid certainty of market-mimicking returns over the will-o'-the-wisp possibility of market-beating results."